In the wake of ever increasing NPAs and rising delinquencies levels the world of banking has learnt, albeit the hard way, how erroneous assumptions about value of assets, whether tangible or intangible, could hurt their interests.

Business is all about valuations – an acquirer acquiring a business is putting a bet on the cashflows of the business over eternity; a lender lending against assets is taking a view on the uses, useful life and residual value of assets. An accountant preparing financial statements under IFRS conventions is putting fair values. A PE financier doing a mezzanine financing is putting a value to the embedded call option inherent in the equity conversion.

In short, valuations are ubiquitous in business today.

It is trite to say, valuations are subjective, but it would be a travesty to say, one can pull any value out of air and, then, justify it as the value. Valuations are relative, not entirely subjective. Valuations are based on the purpose of valuation. While there is a set of assumptions behind any valuation, but the assumptions in turn may also be either derived from publicly verifiable data, or may be based on underlying assumptions which are based on observable inputs. Or, a valuation may be completely based on the model of the valuer. Therefore, global accounting standards classify fair values bases as Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 inputs.

With the moto of “We love to dream and strive to make the dreams come true”, two Kolkata-based renowned firms Vinod Kothari Consultant Pvt. Ltd. (VKC) and Aich Appraisers Auctioneers and Valuers (AAAV) are coming together to form a strategic alliance to provide comprehensive valuation services primarily catering to the banking and financial sector.

Vinod Kothari Consultants (VKC) has been in financial consulting for over 25 years, and is focused on non-banking financial services. Led by Vinod Kothari, a globally renowned financial expert, VKC is currently based out of Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi, and has served almost every leading name in the financial services industry. VKC’s forte lies in being able to value complex financial assets, cashflows, intangible assets, etc. Aich Appraisers Auctioneers and Valuers (AAAV), an award winning valuation services firm, is led by Mr. Indranil Aich, an entrepreneur with an illustrious career of 20 years in the field of engineering, academia and valuation services. VKC and AAA have decided to come together to form a strategic alliance to cater to the burning needs of the finance industry with a new, innovative approach for preventive consultation for NPAs and delinquency subsidence. Both VKC and AAAV have decided to sign of the strategic alliance document on 14th April, 2016 (Thursday) on the auspicious day of Poila Baisakh.Commenting on the Alliance, Mr. Indranil Aich says: “We feel delighted that our company joins hands with Vinod Kothari Consultants to provide relevant and productive services. There is a huge stress in the banking sector right now, and there could not have been a better time to initiate this alliance.”

Mr Vinod Kothari says: “AAA-VKC Alliance is a forging of relative strength of two professional organisations. We complement our mutual strengths. As uncertainty and volatility increases all around us, the stress on professional valuation opinions will be ever increasing. We hope with our mutual domain strengths, we will be able to provide services with utmost professionalism, integrity and capability to our clients. Together, we add value.”

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*Note to editors: for any questions, please feel free to call Mr.Vinod Kothari at 9831078544 or email vinod@vinodkothari.com

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10th January, 2015

Contributors to World Bank Report on Doing Business 2015: Going Beyond Efficiency

Vinod Kothari and Nidhi Bothra have been the contributors to the prestigious Doing Business Report of the World Bank for the years 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015.

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Editorial note: For any further details, contact Abhirup at abhirup@vinodkothari.com

Simpa Networks, operating in India as Simpa Energy India, pioneered the solar-as-a-service business model. It is engaged in selling solar-as-a-service to energy-poor households and micro-enterprises in rural India. Currently, the company operates in rural Uttar Pradesh, an Indian state with severe power deficit.

VKC advised and assisted Simpa Networks in clearing its $ 4 million debt financing with team led by its Director Mr. Vinod Kothari along with its Executive Vice President Ms Nidhi Bothra, Senior Associate Nivedita Shankar and Legal Advisor Prachi Narayan.

The new debt facility will enable Simpa to reach 200,000 people with clean, reliable electricity. The financing has been provided by Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, and by GDF Suez through their Rassembleurs d’Energies program.

It is worth noting that OPIC investment is the first private sector funding in solar industry in India.

Mr. Vinod Kothari recently visited the Dhaka, Bangladesh for a training session on Bond Markets in South Asia. Later during the day, he gave an exclusive interview to one of the leading english dailies in the country – “Dhaka Tribune”, where he said that the business in Bangladesh can avail more debt and wider primary markets therefore talks should be held on developing such markets in a well-planned manner. Click here to read the full interview.

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Editorial note: For any further details, contact Abhirup at abhirup@vinodkothari.com

Vinod Kothari Consultants P Ltd (VKC), a leading consulting and training firm focused on financial services has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Cairo-based Metropolitan Training Academy. The understanding provides for the two firms to collaborate in respect of training, research, consulting and events in the fields of leasing, asset-backed financing, housing finance, factoring, securitisation, Sukuks, Islamic finance, etc. in the MENA region and in India. VKC will provide the domain knowledge in the areas of VKC’s expertise for the MENA region, while Metropolitan will collaborate in respect of sukuks, Ijaras and Islamic finance transactions in the Indian region.

VKC, based out of Kolkata and Mumbai, has been operation for over 25 years now, providing consulting and training on securitisation, secured lending, structured finance, leasing, credit- derivatives, credit risk, risk management, Basel Framework, microfinance, affordable housing finance, REITs, etc. It is headed by Vinod Kothari, who is internationally recognized as an author, trainer and consultant onspecialized financial subjects. Vinod Kothari is the author of several books on advanced topics in finance and has lectured all over the World.

Metropolitan Training Academy (MTA), one of the respected training services provider at the Egyptian training community, was originally established as an independent training and research arm of the Metropolitan Consulting. MTA provides training, events, research, advisory services. Apart from this, the MTA also provides several types of study programs and qualifications in collaboration with its world wide strategic partners like World Association for Small and Medium Enterprises (WASME), International Shar’iah Research Academy (ISRA), the Institute of Islamic Banking and Insurance (IIBI), The Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment (CISI), Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), Al Huda Centre of Islamic Banking & Economics, and others.

The collaboration will enable VKC to offer Islamic-finance related education and consulting in India. India has substantial interest in Islamic finance and one the Islamic-finance based NBFCs has already come up in Kerala. Likewise, in Egypt, there is substantial scope for inputs on leasing, securitisation and housing finance.

Commenting on the arrangement, Nidhi Bothra, Executive Vice President of VKC said : “The MENA region is quite promising from our viewpoint. We have done several consulting assignments in Egypt, Jordan and Morocco, but partnering with a local partner gives us a great leeway and confidence. Also,we look forward to using Metropolitan’s expertise in Islamic finance to successfully implement the concept in the Indian subcontinent. We are quite bullish on this sign-off.”

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Editorial note: For any further details, contact Abhirup at abhirup@vinodkothari.com